The Great Depression and World War II Shaped My Grandmas...

The Great Depression and World War II Shaped My Grandmas Life My grandma, Alma Jean, was born in 1935 in Silo, Oklahoma, just outside of Durant. Her birth certificate says she was born in Durant because Silo was too small to be considered a real town. She lived there on a farm with her parents, Orval and Maggie Dale. It was the middle of the Great Depression, and they were a farming family at a time when it seemed like no one could make a living off the land. To supplement their income, Orval and his father worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). President Roosevelt set up the WPA the same year that my grandma was born (Divine 760). The WPA was similar to other work relief programs such as the CCC, PWA, CWA and NYA.†¦show more content†¦Her dad would sell the skins from the animals he caught. One winter, Maggie (his wife), used the money to buy my grandma a new red coat. However, despite their efforts, the family couldnt afford to stay in Oklahoma. Like many families during the Great Depression, they had to move to survive. In 1933, there were 5,190 bank failures in the U.S. (Divine 755) and unemployment was at 25 percent (Conlin 684). In 1930 a drought hit much of the South and Midwest. It lasted ten years and turned Americas farmland into an unproductive wasteland (Current 737). The drought area came to be known as the Dust Bowl (736). This, combined with the high unemployment and collapsed economy of the Depression, forced families to leave their farms in search of work. In 1932, one in four families living in the Dust Bowl was forced off its land (Conlin, 685). Most of them headed to California (686). They were called Okies and once they got to California, things usually werent much better. Work was hard to find, and because of Californias seasonal crops, it didnt last long. They lived migrant lives, following the crops. The wages were low and many employers found ways to cheat workers out of the little they did earn. Most of the Okies were homeless. They were despised and persecuted by police and native Californians (Current 738). My grandmas story, however, isnt as grim. In 1941, when my grandma was in first grade, they decided it was time to leave.